Sens. Menendez, Hirono Lead Senate Colleagues in Call for Increased Funding for Public Health Preparedness Programs in Fiscal Year 2021
Recent legislation has provided supplemental emergency funds for both the PHEP and HPP to respond to COVID-19. Although this additional funding is necessary and welcome to provide immediate assistance to the health care system, it underscores that the regular annual appropriations are insufficient to empower the health care system to adequately respond to public health emergencies. In the letter, the Senators call on appropriators to allocate enough funding to achieve long-term preparedness, so that hospitals and public health departments do not lurch from one crisis to the next.
"As we confront COVID-19, the federal government must also make the important investments to ensure that our hospitals, public health systems, and their respective preparedness programs are ready to face future challenges. Without increased funding, state and local health officials will face difficult choices about how to prioritize federal dollars, potentially leaving our communities unprepared when new public health threats emerged," the Senators wrote to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the
The Senators continued, "We ask that you increase federal funding for PHEP and HPP to ensure that public health agencies, hospitals and health care coalitions have the necessary resources to respond to public health and other emergencies and disasters."
As you and your colleagues begin work on the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY2021) Labor,
PHEP is a critical source of funding for state, local, tribal, and territorial public health departments. Being prepared to prevent, respond to, and rapidly recover from public health threats is critical for protecting and securing our nation's public health. We appreciate that the committee provided level funding for PHEP in FY2020. However, this level of investment is inadequate and PHEP funding has declined 28.1 percent since FY2002, prompting concerns among state and local planners over their ability to sustain the real and measurable advances made in public health preparedness.
Like PHEP, HPP helps the health care delivery system save lives during emergencies and disaster events that exceed the day-to-day capacity and capability of existing health and emergency response systems. HPP is the only source of federal funding for health care delivery system readiness, intended to improve patient outcomes and enable rapid recovery. Both the
We recognize and appreciate that
As we confront COVID-19, the federal government must also make the important investments to ensure that our hospitals, public health systems, and their respective preparedness programs are ready to face future challenges. Without increased funding, state and local health officials will face difficult choices about how to prioritize federal dollars, potentially leaving our communities unprepared when new public health threats emerged. We ask that you increase federal funding for PHEP and HPP to ensure that public health agencies, hospitals and health care coalitions have the necessary resources to respond to public health and other emergencies and disasters.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
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